Bessi – Coolest place on earth!

Bessi – If you cant understand what this means, they would call you uneducated in Chennai. For the benefit of those few, it means Besant nagar beach.

To many people, it is a hangout; to many of us it is more than that. To me, Bessi holds my memories, the memories of my adolosecent days… to many of you too, it might be the case. What makes a stretch of water and sand so beautiful and attractive? Is it just a figment of our imagination or is it real? What makes people come despite Tsunami? Well, you gotta come to Bessi to know why!!

I have lived in Besant Nagar for 10 years now, home is just 3 minutes walk from the beach. My friend Shweta and I frequent the beach very often. It is a great place to be in even if it is only for a few minutes. We usually just sit there on the inner pavement. We have overheard (not intentionally) conversations of mothers in law cribbing about daughters in law, old men hunching around for discussions on daily events and politics, furious walkers and groups of families with their children having a nice evening not to mention the pairs that resort to corners. 🙂 Many youngsters trying to show off in their bikes and cars and racing one another to catch a girl’s attention are common sights.

We just talk on all kinds of things, comment on the people around and somehow when we finish and light begins to dim and we get up to go home, we feel a lot happier than when we came. Sometimes we walk in the sand…. both of us enjoy leisure walk. It is so pleasing to just feel the sand under your foot. It is ideal to sit and talk on the sand if you just prefer a relaxing time. It is great to hear the sound of the waves as we talk. The bajji shops there make an ideal evening tiffen. 🙂 They have got varities like Potato, Banana, Onion, Cauliflowers apart from the non veg ones. They also corn, water and cool drinks. Most people shy from these shops because they think the oil is unhygenic and all that crap. Pity them! They are missing too much. It is far more hygenic than a dinner at a 5 Star Hotel coz here they make it front of your eyes. In a 5 star, they d just probably reheat 3 days old stuff… 🙂

The Kwality Walls outlet Mango Duet and Chocobar are our other favorites. It feels like heaven to lick the icecream as you walk on the sand with ur friends. Have to do it to belive it! Not to mention the rides that we enjoyed as children and now enjoy as we watch children do the same!! When I watch kids making houses in sand, it takes me back to those carefree golden days. Now we have horse riding, balloon shooting and kite flying as well… More often than not we have the fortune teller lady coming and telling us that there is a message from heaven for us. "Mele irundhu oru sedhi vandhurukku. Jakkamma solli anipchirukka. Un Mugathula theriyudhu." Believe it or not, Shweta and I have been having recieving messages every week from Jakkamma. We have never listened to the fortune teller however. 🙂

Sometimes, we do foray into the waters, just to wet our feet. It is just so cool to feel the water on your feet. The Bay of Bengal is not very aggressive. Hence, you can, if you know how to swim, go in a certain distance.

Personally, I love feeling the hugeness of the sea… the littleness of me in front of it, to realize that I am but a part of the big universe; yet to realize that I am a significant part …. It is a place that gives me freedom and solace. I dont find such peace even in a temple. I guess that could be because temples are man made and beaches are created by God. Bessi is the place that symbolises Chennai. Frequent it if you havent been doing already. 🙂 Its simply the coolest place on earth.